Public Safety Committee on Oct. 2nd, 2018

[Supt Jamie Solesme]

I should explain first that in Milton, you're looking at a federal policing unit, so they're not working as first responders. They're working more on federal investigations, national security, serious and organized crime and financial crime, so they're not the ones who are going to be called to a 911 call—unless, obviously, it's a national security event.

You're asking me how many vehicles would be in those smaller communities, but I would have to go back to our fleet manager and ascertain that number. I don't have the numbers broken down by division, just the overall numbers.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

I just did the math. It would be $8.5 million to equip all of them, and then there would be ongoing costs over time.

[Supt Jamie Solesme]

That is correct.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

I'm wondering if there would be a way to pick the highest priority vehicles. Maybe it's not possible to do that, but rather than equipping all 5,000 right off the bat, if there was an opportunity to see where it might be beneficial for the RCMP to have AEDs in their vehicles.... We know it saves lives.

[Supt Jamie Solesme]

Yes.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

It's more whether it's a good use of taxpayers' dollars with all the other costs that the RCMP has in their budget.

[Supt Jamie Solesme]

Yes.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

How much time do I have left, Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

You are just coming up to four minutes.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Mr. Picard will take the rest of my time.

[Michel Picard, Liberal, Montarville, QC]

My question is on areas that are not urban. Obviously access in towns is unrestricted, no problem. In the areas that you cover, outside towns and cities, it might take longer than five minutes for a vehicle to get to the emergency site. No matter how much effort is made or how urgent the situation, the emergency vehicle cannot always get to the sites in the critical five- to ten-minute window for using this device.

Living outside towns and cities has its advantages, but how do you picture the vehicles getting to the locations quickly? Even if they are equipped with a defibrillator, the distance and operational issues would make it hard to use this device effectively unless the accident occurs near the vehicle.

[Supt Jamie Solesme]

Having worked in northern British Columbia, I appreciate the remoteness, and working up into the Yukon, you are correct that there are still.... It's a huge challenge, the timeliness of arrival in some of these remote areas. Remoteness should not be compared to any area within Ontario. You can drive miles and you could travel for an hour to get to an accident that's occurred where there are injuries. Because there's no police presence and they could be sparsely populated areas, you are correct. It's still a challenge.

[Michel Picard, Liberal, Montarville, QC]

I wanted to ask the representatives from St. John Ambulance this question.

If the devices are so easy to use, then would it be possible to provide simple training through a video recording on a web site?

It's true that the RCMP site is rather full and diverse, but there could be an RCMP video on the safety aspect. The training would provide enough information to ensure that those who are afraid to use this device are assured that if they ever need to use it they should be able to without any problem.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Is that a question or a comment?

[Michel Picard, Liberal, Montarville, QC]

Should we put a training video on your website or any other website for the general population to learn how to use these?

[Supt Jamie Solesme]

I'm not familiar with what's currently available in the realm for the public. You're talking about public education. I'm not certain what's there now.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you, Mr. Picard.

Mr. Motz, you have seven minutes.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Thank you very much.

Superintendent, you indicated that you purchased AEDs for G7 this past June. How many did you purchase?

[Supt Jamie Solesme]

I'm not familiar with the number.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

You have no idea at all? Was it 100, 500, 1,000, two?

[Supt Jamie Solesme]

I'm not familiar with the number.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

You got them for $1,700 apiece.

[Supt Jamie Solesme]

Yes.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

That probably means you got a volume discount, because they're usually $2,200 to $2,300. The model you used there, I take it, is the model that is used generally by police agencies across the country.

[Supt Jamie Solesme]

I'm not certain which one they procured for the G7. Other than there's a series of ones that they have procured.

For instance, in our own office, I have seen three different models. We have one on display. We have one that was assigned to the emergency response team. There is another model there.